


Detail

by mystiri1



Series: Detail [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-25
Updated: 2010-04-25
Packaged: 2017-10-09 03:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mystiri1/pseuds/mystiri1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The traditional reward for a job well done is...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Detail

Tseng stood before the desk, hands clasped behind his back, face expressionless. Inside, he was feeling smug, triumphant. He'd done a good job, an excellent job, and it was clear, from the words Veld was saying, that his superior agreed.

It was a vindication of sorts, because he'd had more than a few people look at him askance when he'd joined the Turks. The tension between Wutai and the ShinRa Electric Power Company was a subject of nightly discussion on the news channel – coverage heavily slanted in ShinRa's favour, of course. There were rumours that ShinRa was going to invade Wutai, rumours that Tseng considered most likely true. He was in a position to see just how much ShinRa had built up their private army and weapons, after all. He didn't care.

As Tseng saw it, he owed precisely nothing to the country of his birth.

He had no illusions about his employers. He was paid to do a job, expected to do it, and so long as he did, the company would meet his needs. It would not go out of its way for him, nor did he expect it to; if he was of no use, he was of no interest. He offered his loyalty and service for coin, a financial transaction and nothing more. The honesty and simplicity of it pleased Tseng.

“I have a new job for you,” Veld said, and Tseng snapped to attention as he pulled a disk from his desk drawer. “This file contains all the information you'll need on your new assignment. I expect you to see it destroyed once you've read it, as some of it is quite sensitive. You won't be working alone, but you will be in charge. I'll also be pulling you for other work as necessary, so it will be up to you to ensure everything is covered in your absence.”

Veld looked at him steadily. “While I realise that running a protection detail might not be as exciting as hunting down gunrunners, I assure you this comes with its own challenges. I trust you'll be up to the responsibility.”

Protection detail? Tseng blinked. Turks regularly doubled as bodyguards for ShinRa's many executives, but unless they were someone fairly high in the upper echelons and had lots of enemies, it was considered one of their more boring duties. He wondered who it was. One of the higher-ranking scientists, perhaps?

Veld glanced at the watch on his wrist. “It's nearly four, so he should be in his apartment by now. I'll take you to meet him.”

As Tseng watched the numbers on the elevator climb, he decided it must be one of the scientists. Several of them had apartments within the ShinRa building, provided by the company. It was a supposed job 'perk' that had the added benefit of allowing them to work all hours of the night. Depending on who the scientist was, he supposed that his new assignment could be considered a reward or simply something to keep the Wutaian Turk out of the way, possibly permanently. Some of ShinRa's scientists were best avoided.

When they stopped, it was a floor higher than he expected. These apartments weren't basic dwellings for scientists who never noticed anything beyond their own research. This floor held luxury suites for visiting executives.

Veld led him to a door at the end of the hall, where a man in a familiar blue suit waited.

“Sir.”

“Rude, I don't know if you've met Tseng yet. He'll be heading this detail from now on. Tseng, this is Rude.”

The large, bald-headed Turk nodded respectfully, although it was hard to tell what he was really thinking as his eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses. Tseng hadn't met him before, but had seen him around, and knew from gossip within the Turks that this wasn't unusual. Rude always wore concealing shades, and seldom spoke more than a few words to anybody. Tseng inclined his own head in response.

Veld opened the door. Tseng's first impression was of white.

“It's considered polite to knock first, Veld.” A child sat at the bleached hardwood table in the dining area, the dark red of his school uniform a vibrant splash of colour amongst white walls, white carpet, and white furnishings. Although Tseng wasn't exactly a skilled judge of such things, he guessed he was somewhere around eight or so.

“Hello, Rufus. My apologies.”

There were a large number of books stacked on the table, and a thin, nervous man hovered over the boy. Tseng gave him a careful look. His demeanour, which was noticeably frightened of the Turks – and Rufus? - combined with his lack of anything resembling a weapon, made Tseng decide he was a civilian; some kind of tutor, from the looks of things. It was the boy who held his interest.

He appeared completely unfazed by the fact he'd just told off the Head of the Turks, and was now staring at Tseng with a flat, expressionless gaze.

Veld also seemed curiously unbothered by the fact he'd just been lectured in manners by a child. “Rufus, this is Tseng. He's the new head of your protection detail. Tseng, I'd like for you to meet Rufus ShinRa.”

* * *

Rufus ShinRa was nine and a half years old. One hundred and 27 centimetres tall, 29.4 kilos. Some minor health problems which seemed to relate to repeated chest infections, currently attending the Longen Hall Academy For Boys. Above average intelligence, with excellent grades; apparently the tutor was not to assist with his school work, but to educate him in all the other things his father deemed necessary.

Mother deceased, just last year; apparent suicide. Father, none other than Adolphus ShinRa himself, the head of the ShinRa Electric Power Company and owner of a large chunk of the known world.

There was nothing listed under the space that usually included known associates. There was a complete listing of his entire class attached, with links to a brief precis for each of them, and personnel files for the Turks most often assigned his detail. Most of them were fairly mid-level, and few of them stuck around long. Rude had been on it the longest; eighteen months, assigned to it just a year after joining the Turks, with brief interruptions for other duties. He'd be the best person to ask any questions, if only there was any hope of actually receiving an answer.

There had been several attempts at abduction when he was younger, although nothing recent. He lived in the apartment Tseng had visited earlier, rather than with his father, his care apparently split between a housekeeper and his current tutor. There was a list of previous employees who had filled these roles, as none of them seemed to last for more than a year.

It was the content that didn't relate specifically to Rufus that Tseng found more interesting. Included almost as if by accident was an internal memo relating to the deployment of several SOLDIER units against strategic targets in Wutai.

ShinRa was going to war.

If this was true, then attempts against the executives of the ShinRa Electric Power Company were likely to increase. Indeed, it was likely a few of them would succeed, because Wutai was an old hand at political assassinations. And sooner or later, Rufus ShinRa would probably also be considered a legitimate target. Although he was a child, he was the child of the man who owned ShinRa, and that would be all that mattered.

Closing the file, Tseng shut his laptop down and stared at the far wall. ShinRa was going to war with Wutai, and Veld had just handed Rufus ShinRa's personal protection detail over to a Wutaian Turk, along well as strategic military intelligence . He wasn't sure whether he was being tested, trusted, or set up to fail.

After an hour, the only thing he had concluded was that he was not ready to try and out-think the head of the Turks.


End file.
